WARREN Tredrea only needs to survive the last three weeks of pre-season in order to be named captain for 2008, according to coach Mark Williams.

The 210-game veteran, who has been ravaged by knee injuries in the past, has impressed everyone at Alberton over the summer with his improved fitness and mobility.

Tredrea, 29, has volunteered to relinquish the top job if its in the club’s best interests, but Williams said it was likely he would skipper the Power again this season.

“As it stands right now, Tredders has done a terrific job. He looks fit and he’s ready to go so I assume that, given those circumstances continue, he’ll be the captain,” Williams said.

“Every player, every coach and every person that surrounds the club knows that Tredders is the best captain for our club, while he’s fit and ready to go.”

“Tredders understand exactly where we’re at and that if he’s not able to be prepared perfectly, it’s too difficult to go with him another year.”

Tredrea is one of a number of senior players who will return to the Power line-up this week. The only name missing from training on Wednesday was ruckman Dean Brogan, who is expected to be out for two weeks with a lower-abdominal strain.

“We’ll roll out our best team possible this week and move it on the following week,” Williams said.

“We can work on as much fitness as we can, but right now we’re into game playing mode and it will take a bit of time over the next few weeks to get it as good as we can, but we’ll develop that as the season starts.

“Without doubt it will be a completely different team this week to the one you’ve seen so far.”

The Power will take on Collingwood on Sunday in what will be their third-official hit-out for the year.

Williams, unlike some of his coaching counterparts, was in favour of continuing the month-long pre-season competition.

“I think it's fantastic for our young players to get opportunities and [2006 NAB AFL Draft selection] Ryan Williams’ case stands out for me," he said.

"I wasn’t really sure about him, but having given him an opportunity over the past couple of weeks I feel much more comfortable about playing him in a proper game."

“We sign these young guys, train them and spend a lot of money and time on them, but unless you give them the time to flourish, you never know what you’ve got.

“It’s not too big of a workload when you’ve got 28 players because they are only playing a half or three-quarters of the game.

“It’s a good mix and as long as you can have unlimited interchange, it works really well.”